


Ceaseless Truths

by Miri1984



Category: Rusty Quill Gaming (Podcast)
Genre: M/M, no explicit content but some disturbing imagery, possessed!Tjelvar
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-10
Updated: 2019-10-10
Packaged: 2020-11-28 21:30:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20973362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miri1984/pseuds/Miri1984
Summary: A run in with a demon in a tomb in Turkey leaves Tjelvar possessed and Ed forced to travel with him for days to seek a cure. (inspired by some beautiful art by Lho)





	Ceaseless Truths

Ed knows he shouldn’t be letting it get to him. He knows everything that not-Tjelvar is saying is a lie, knows that no matter that the thing inside Tjelvar’s body shares his memories and knowledge it is, at root, evil.

All it wants is to get free, to get away, to use Tjelvar’s body to do evil in the world outside and Ed won’t let it do that, he can’t let it do that. But he won’t kill Tjelvar, either. If there’s even the smallest chance that something of Tjelvar is left, he’ll take it. He knows the church of Aphrodite is more advanced in the healing arts, knows that if he can just reach the temple in Cairo they can cure Tjelvar, make him back to how he was, and Ed can forget everything the demon has said and they can go back to normal, to being _ friends. _No matter that Ed can’t look over to the corner where the thing that isn’t Tjelvar sits, eyes glittering and fixed on Ed, hands bound.

It’s magic, that’s what it is, that the demon can reach into Ed’s mind and pull out the thoughts and feelings that he’s been trying so hard to push down, push away.

Tonight has been the worst. Up to now the demon has been teasing him with innocent, soft things, _ I love you Ed, let me sit near you, next to the fire, let me hold your hand, Ed. I can tell you about the tombs of the ancients. _

_ I want to hold you. Want to feel you warm and solid next to me. _

It talks about how Ed looks in the sunlight when they’re walking, talks about how he _ it _wants to run its hands through Ed’s hair, kiss his face, smooth the worry from his shoulders.

Ed could deal with all of that. It’s no different to what he thinks normally, when Tjelvar is engrossed in an artefact, or talking excitedly about a paper he’s thinking of writing, or even one he’s just read. The simple comfort of having Tjelvar near, knowing that Tjelvar enjoys his company (because he does, he did, Tjelvar doesn’t lie.) The things it has said have been no different from those daydreams he sometimes finds himself having, or did have... back before… before it happened… and those had never hurt any one other than Ed, with that sweet, soft pain of longing for something he could never have and would never dream of asking for, because he would never put what they already had in at risk. 

And Tjelvar hadn’t known, or if he did he didn’t _ mind, _because Tjelvar was sensible and didn’t blame someone for having feelings, didn’t react, because he was Tjelvar and Tjelvar would never be cruel to Ed for something that Ed couldn’t help. 

Tonight though. Tonight the thing that isn’t Tjelvar falls against him as Ed moves him towards the fire - it is sometimes difficult for him to move, hands bound behind him as they are, and Ed steadies him, unthinking, against his chest, so close he can feel the heat radiating of it. The thing that isn’t Tjelvar makes a small, triumphant noise and nuzzles into Ed’s neck, lips brushing against his skin in a dreadful parody of a kiss, and Ed pushes him away and down, so rapidly and hard that Tjelvar - _ not Tjelvar _ falls. Ed winces as its… as _ Tjelvar’s _head hits rock. Blood wells in a cut over his eye and Ed’s heart nearly stops with panic. It isn’t Tjelvar, but Tjelvar is inside there, somewhere, and the thunk is loud enough that Ed is terrified he might have killed him.

He is calling for Apollo before he is even on the same level, healing light surging out and through the prone form of Tjelvar. He smooths his hand over the cut, feeling the flesh knit together and the swelling reduce. 

Tjelvar isn’t unconscious, though. _ It _ isn’t unconscious. It makes a low sound in its throat, pushing its bound hands against the ground to arch its body upwards. “Eddie… you hurt me.”

“I’m sorry,” Ed says, automatically, then regrets it. 

“Show me how sorry,” the thing that _ isn’t Tjelvar _says.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” he says. “It’s not going to work on me. I _ know _ you’re not Tjelvar.”

“I look like him though. I feel like him. I know him better than you ever will, Eddie. I’m in here with him. Would you like to know what he’s thinking right now?”

“Stop it.” Ed is meticulously gentle with the thing that isn’t Tjelvar as he helps it back to his feet.

“He wants to say sorry,” the thing says, as Ed moves him to the spot he’s going to make the fire. “He wants to protect you from me, he wants you to understand that it isn’t your family, or because you’re not smart enough that he never said anything. It was because he didn’t think he was good enough for you, Ed.”

Ed wants to cry. He can feel the tears gathering in his throat and he shoves them down, because he’s not allowed to do that, he’s the Duke’s son and he’s Apollo’s paladin and the thought that Tjelvar could possibly think that anything like that would ever…

_ It isn’t Tjelvar, _he reminds himself. 

“You’re not pretending to be him now,” Ed says, instead. “Why not?”

“I am him,” the thing that isn’t Tjelvar says. “But you keep holding onto that hope that you can get the Tjelvar before this back.” It isn’t Tjelvar. It _ isn’t Tjelvar. _“Ed you’re beautiful but you are stupid. You can’t separate us. If you try I’ll die. The only Tjelvar you’ll ever have, the only one who will ever tell you he loves you, the only one who will ever give you what you want, is me.”

“Don’t,” Ed whispers, breath ragged. 

“I could make you so happy, Ed. We could be together right now, here. Get the fire going and let me kiss you again. Let me find all the places that make you…”

“Stop it!” Ed cries out, trying desperately to ignore the warmth curling in his abdomen. “Stop talking, or I’ll…”

“What? What will you do?” The thing that isn’t Tjelvar is leaning forward, mouth parted, eyes black and fathomless in the failing light. 

“Just be quiet,” he says. “I’m not going to do any of the things you want me to do.”

“You want to though,” it says. “I can feel it. I can feel how much you want to give in.” Ed glances up at him - _ at it at IT - _and it leans even further forward, wetting its lips with its tongue. “It’ll be so good, Eddie,” it says, soft and low.

Ed should be getting the fire ready but his hands are shaking and the flint and tinder won’t catch. If Tjelvar was here he could have sparked the fire in a second. But he wasn’t here. It _ wasn’t Tjelvar. _ “I’m taking you to Cairo. And you can’t change my mind on that, no matter what you say.”

“I wouldn’t have to talk at all,” Not-Tjelvar says, and his voice has dipped lower, almost a growl that skates across Ed’s nerves and settles in his chest with a dull ache. “You could make me quiet very easily, Ed.” 

Ed squeezes his eyes shut and sucks in a breath through his nose. Turns his back on it. Lights the fire. “I’m here by the grace of Apollo,” he says, as the fire catches, warmth and heat and life leaping up in the darkness. “You can’t hurt me with words. And you can’t have Tjelvar. I’m bringing him to Cairo and he’s going to be free.”

The thing chuckles. “So ready to delude yourself.”

“Tjelvar will be free, and you’ll be _ dead.” _

#

His glasses are gone. He can remember them being broken, sometime during the first struggle with Edward. 

The demon hadn’t needed them. 

But it means that Edward is slightly out of focus and it’s hard to make out his expression as he is led out of the treatment room to where he sits, waiting.

Something is very wrong. _ Oh, so many things are wrong _ but something is so obviously wrong with Edward that Tjelvar’s breath catches in his throat. 

“They said you were okay now,” Edward says, standing up, and Tjelvar can _ hear _him trying to sound positive and happy but...

_ Don’t you know that I love you, Edward? Why else would I have stayed with you for so long? _

“Eddie,” Tjelvar says, softly, and Edward _ winces. _

“I just wanted to check to make sure,” Edward says, hands twisting in front of him.

_ Come over here, Edward, untie me, let me show you how much you mean to me. _

“Ed I need to thank you for…”

Edward shakes his head, violently, avoiding Tjelvar’s eyes. “No you don’t. I had to get you back. You don’t… no one deserves what that thing was doing to you.”

_ You’re beautiful, Ed, I know people have told you that before but they didn’t know you like I do. Didn’t understand that it’s not just on the outside. _

The serene looking acolyte who had lead Tjelvar out of the treatment room motions for them both to follow. “We have a room for you both, you must be tired after your journey.” 

Ed looks panicked at that, looking from side to side. “I should probably go to the temple of Apollo,” he says and Tjelvar’s heart clenches. Ed is still a paladin, of course he is, nothing they do at the temple can take away Apollo’s favour, but the last time they’d been to the temple of Apollo in Cairo they’d treated Ed like an unwanted guest, dismissed him as unimportant, superfluous, ineffectual. Edward is _ none _of those things.

They’d talked about it. Ed had agreed that it wasn’t good for him to go back there. 

The only reason he was contemplating it now was because he didn’t want to be near Tjelvar.

_ Let me touch you, Eddie. Let me show you how good I can make you feel. _

Tjelvar can’t let this stand. He reaches out, hesitantly. “Ed you don’t have to stay but please don’t go yet. I… we need…” he glances at the acolyte, then back at Ed who hasn’t backed away, although his eyes are fixed on Tjelvar’s hand. “We need to _ talk _.”

He can see Ed’s breath quicken in panic and Tjelvar pulls his hand back. “I… you…” his voice is quavering on the words, desperate and afraid. “You can remember what it _said?” Gods. _Tjelvar would do anything to hug him right now, to hold him close and soothe away the days of horror and hurt that he’s bourne. “You can remember what _I_ said to _it?” _

The acolyte makes an impatient sound and Tjelvar twines his hands together, stopping himself from reaching out again. “Yes,” he says, and Ed nearly runs, Tjelvar can see the panic going through him and Tjelvar can’t let him do that, can’t let him leave. Not like this. He steps forward. “Ed you know this is me right, you can sense it now? It’s _ gone. _ I’m just me. And I want to… I _ need _ you to be okay. Breathe. Please. Ask… ask Apollo. _ ” _

Edward takes a deep breath, and Tjelvar can see him taking the time to connect. It’s good - he hasn’t lost trust in that at least. Finally, Ed nods, letting out his breath, which is shaking. “All right,” he says. Tjelvar breathes a sigh of relief. The last thing he wants to do is have this conversation out in the open, in front of the acolytes and paladins of Aphrodite, but they’re led into a small room with a half dozen cots (none of which are full, thank goodness) and Ed looks at the acolyte then back at Tjelvar and swallows. 

Tjelvar moves into the room, making sure Ed has a clear line to the exit and sits on a cot, motioning for Ed to do the same. Ed gives a tiny shake of his head, then seems to reconsider and perches awkwardly on the cot closest to the door. His hands are still firmly clasped in front of him, and Tjelvar can see that the knuckles are whitening and colouring rhythmically as he clenches and unclenches them, over and over.

_ I just want to kiss you. You can’t tell me you don’t want it as much as I do. I’ve seen how you look at me. _

“I’m so sorry,” Tjelvar begins and Ed’s eyebrows draw together and he sees him start to blink, rapidly. “I’m so sorry for what I said. For what I did.”

“Wasn’t you,” Ed chokes out.

_ I love you, Edward. I’ve loved you all along. _

Tjelvar swallows. _ Tjelvar doesn’t love me. And he would never be cruel enough to pretend. _

How is he supposed to explain?

“It… it wasn’t me. But it said… it used what it knew about me to hurt you,” Tjelvar swallows again, his mouth far too dry. “It used… it used my feelings to hurt both of us.”

Ed frowns. Tjelvar waits, waits for Ed to puzzle through the words, hoping he won’t have to be more explicit than that. 

_ “Your _feelings?” Ed says, finally. 

“It wasn’t lying to you, Ed. Well, it _ was _ because it wasn’t me, but the feelings… the things it used against you…” Tjelvar takes a deep breath. “It wanted to hurt both of us. It _ did _hurt both of us.”

“It said… it said you…”

“It wasn’t lying Ed. I’m… I…”

Ed shakes his head, bears down and reaches out a hand and Tjelvar can see the soft light of Apollo branch out again.

When he lets his hand drop his expression is even more confused. “I don’t understand,” he says. “You’re… you’re you and I can feel it so why would you…”

Tjelvar’s heart, already cracked, is close to breaking completely. 

“Eddie please,” he says softly. “I’m so sorry. It’s done so much damage but please, can we… can you…”

Ed shakes his head. Stands up. “I think… I think I should stay at the temple of Apollo,” he says. 

“Edward…”

“I… I’d like it if you stopped talking, now, please.” 

Tjelvar feels tears welling. Bites his lip. Nods. “Okay.”

Ed stands for a moment, looking at him. Tjelvar wants to scream but holds his silence.

_ I’d never lie to you Edward, _ it had said. _ You know you can trust me. You’ve always known. _

“Goodbye,” Ed says, and Tjelvar can’t do anything but watch him go.

#

Tjelvar watches the door for too long. He’s bone tired, the journey had taken its toll on his body even though he was not in control of it, and he’s heartsick. _ I would like it if you stopped talking, now. _

He’d never seen Ed look so hurt, so lost and confused, even in those first few hours after he came back from Rome. He can remember all too clearly, Ed sitting by the fire, his fists clenched at his sides as the demon within Tjelvar tormented him with his feelings, the muscle working in his jaw, the sharp, in-drawn breaths whenever the demon had hit on a particularly sensitive spot.

Oh _ Edward. _

He can’t blame him for leaving. There was no way Ed could ever separate the two of them in his mind, not after what the demon said, after what the demon did. Tjelvar had waited too late to say what was in his heart, and now Ed would never believe him.

He runs his hands through his hair, then lies on the cot, not bothering to undress.

His sleep is full of uneasy, demon tinged dreams.

#

The temple of Apollo is still practically deserted. The high priest has moved on to where what remains of the congregation have fled - there is no point ministering to the sick when there are no sick left - and the temple is manned only by a few acolytes and one elderly cleric. Ed is the only paladin, and he knows none of the acolytes personally, which is something of a relief. 

Still the temple feels empty, and Ed is lonely. He hasn’t been on his own since Rome, not truly, and lying in a cot in a room meant for six other paladins on his own feels wrong.

He shouldn’t have left Tjelvar there. He should have stayed and made sure he was all right, but the things Tjelvar had been saying were too confusing for Ed to process, not in the same room with him, not after a week listening to not-Tjelvar promise him things he hadn’t even admitted to himself that he wanted.

Ed squeezes his eyes shut, pushing those thoughts away. He murmurs a prayer under his lips, desperately repeating the same words over and over, with less and less coherency, as his body gives into exhaustion finally and he falls asleep.

His dreams are vivid and full of Tjelvar and not-Tjelvar and Edward is relieved when he wakes from them. He goes to the altar and prays, but Apollo doesn’t have any way to untie the knot of feelings in his gut. There isn’t an easy solution to this. Ed wants more than anything to go back to the temple of Aphrodite and talk to Tjelvar, ask him to explain but he’s frozen. Tjelvar can’t have meant what he said because that would mean…

...that would mean…

#

A week passes.

Edward becomes the defacto head of the church in Cairo, and it feels all right, he supposes. He hears from the acolyte that Tjelvar has gone back to their rooms at the Tahan residence, that he’s continuing to catalogue the magical artefacts from the tomb, but he doesn’t see Tjelvar at all, doesn’t make the trek across the city to talk to Curie and the other Harlequins. There are comings and goings, vague stories about Hamid and Azu and Wilde fighting an epic fight against a hideous foe, and then on the seventh day after Tjelvar’s cure, the storms stop.

Edward almost goes to the Tahan house then. He thinks he should talk to Tjelvar, celebrate with him, somehow, that the world is returning to normal, but then the first townsfolk start trickling back into Cairo and Edward is suddenly too busy to think much about Tjelvar any more.

He still does, of course. At night, before he falls asleep, he can still hear the words of the demon in his ears, but more often than not, now, the words are drowned out by the words that Tjelvar said in that room in the Temple of Aphrodite, and the dreams he has afterwards are no longer nightmares.

#

One morning, the day after several higher ranking clerics return to the temple and start taking issue with how Ed has been running things, he is interrupted in his morning prayer by an acolyte he remembers from the temple of Aphrodite.

“Edward Keystone?” she says, and holds out a letter when he nods.

Ed recognises Tjelvar’s handwriting, and takes it with a hand that definitely isn’t shaking. 

He stammers out a thank you, and the acolyte nods and leaves Edward standing there with a letter in his hands that almost feels like it’s going to burn him. He swallows. Glances around the temple, then retires back to his room.

_ Edward, _

_ It must be very difficult to look at my face right now, after everything the demon said and did on the way back to Cairo, so I thought the best way to deal with this would be in a letter. _

_ I wanted to give you some time before I tried to contact you again. If you don’t feel up to reading this then please, set it aside until you do, or if you think you won’t ever be able to, that’s also fine, and I’ll understand. _

_ I know I shouldn’t have said what I said in the temple of Aphrodite. I should have realised it was too soon. You spent over a week in the company of something that had stolen my face and I understand that it’s going to be hard to remember who I was before that. It’s hard for me as well. _

_ I don’t know how to prove to you that I meant what I said, except to tell you that I didn’t say anything before for a lot of reasons. None of them were good ones. I suppose I wasn’t exactly sure how I felt until the demon tapped into those feelings and gave voice to them in ways I was always too frightened to. _

_ I don’t want to ask you to come and talk to me until you’re ready, but I also can’t stay in Cairo very much longer. There’s an expedition to the ruined city of Aten - you might remember we talked about him, about how he another of the ancient Egyptian’s names for Apollo, and how the great king Akhenaten built the city to honour him. I had planned to tell you about the expedition when we were in Turkey, but then the demon came and in the end I never got around to it. I thought you might be interested in coming with me, but if you don’t want to work together any more I will understand. _

_ The expedition is leaving today. We’ll be in Aten for at least a few months, so you don’t have to decide right now, but I won’t be able to send a letter to you easily from there so I’m giving this to one of the acolytes of the temple to give to you, in case you think you might find it in your heart to come with me. _

_ I couldn’t bear it if we parted on bad terms. You mean too much to me for that. _

_ With love, _

_ Tjelvar. _

Edward lets the hand the is still holding the letter fall into his lap. It feels more real, reading the words, than it did hearing them from Tjelvar in the temple of Aphrodite. He traces the signature, the two words before it, and wonders if he can trust his senses.

Then he realises what time it is and rushes out into the sunlight.

#

Tjelvar isn’t exactly delaying as he secures his pack to the camel outside the Museum of Cairo. They had planned on setting out at first light, to avoid the heat of the midday sun, but as with most expeditions of this size there had been administrative faff and last minute changes to the roster of students and generalised disorganisation. Most of it isn’t Tjelvar’s responsibility, but enough of it is that he recognises his own reluctance to leave as the driving force behind the increasingly annoyed servants and students who just want to get underway already.

He keeps glancing down the street, towards the temple of Apollo, wondering if Ed got his letter, coming to the reluctant conclusion, as the clocks ticked past the eleventh hour, that it didn’t matter if he had. He obviously received the letter. He probably didn’t read it.

Tjelvar can’t blame Ed for that.

He secures the last of his packs to the camel and swings up into the saddle. He doesn’t like camels much, but they’re far more sensible for the Egyptian climate than horses and in a lot of ways they suit him better. Still, it’s awkward and difficult to get up onto one and he isn’t paying attention when there is a sudden commotion at the edge of his vision.

Someone tall, yellow haired and very bright is coming towards the group. Tjelvar blinks, his glasses have come askew on his nose and he can’t quite make out who it is until…

“Tjelvar!”

Eddie is waving a hand at him, a hand that Tjelvar realises is holding his letter. He pushes past a couple of the other camels, and gets a few exasperated looks from the students, before he’s finally next to Tjelvar, breathing hard and red faced and barely reaching Telvjar’s camel elevated knee.

Tjelvar pushes his glasses back onto his nose and tries to ignore the sudden, hopeful thudding of his heart against his chest.

“Eddie,” he says. “What are you doing here?”

“I thought you were leaving from the Tahan estate!” Ed says. “So I went there first and they told me you were leaving from the museum which makes way more sense, I should have realised that before I left but it meant I was going to be late and I didn’t bring my things and I just wanted to make sure you knew that I wanted to come with you and that I got your letter and that it’s all right, it really is all right and I should have… I shouldn’t have…” Ed trails off as he realises that everyone around him is looking at them. Ari, one of the students who had originally been assigned to help Tjelvar in the tomb, who knows both Ed and Tjelvar well, is openly grinning. A few others are whispering to each other. Tjelvar notices one former Museum Curator sniggering behind her hand.

“Uh. Hang on, Eddie, I’ll just…” 

He begins the laborious process of getting down off the camel and Ed stands there, waiting for him, wringing his hands. 

He manages to get down, extremely awkwardly. “We uh… should talk about this somewhere else, Ed. Don’t you think?”

Ed looks around again and nods and Tjelvar reaches out and takes Ed’s hand, pulling him back off the street and into the museum proper, away from the staring eyes of his students.

Once they’re inside Tjelvar opens his mouth to ask questions but instead looks up to see Ed staring at where their hands are joined.

Tjelvar almost drops Ed’s hand as soon as he realises but Ed’s expression isn’t exactly _ upset _ and when he looks back up and into Tjelvar’s eyes Tjelvar, instead loosens his grip, then slides his fingers around so that they are interlacing with Ed’s, each point where their skin touches feeling alive and sensitive in ways that Tjelvar can’t begin to quantify.

Ed is still holding Tjelvar’s letter in his other hand, but chooses this moment to drop it and cup Tjelvar’s face instead, taking a deep breath as though he’s about to jump into water, and leaning forward.

It’s not an especially skilled kiss, but it’s heartfelt and Tjelvar steps closer to Ed, as close as he can, really, wanting desperately for it not to end. It does, though, Ed’s fingers tracing delicate patterns over Tjelvar’s jaw and cheekbone as he pulls back, eyes half closed.

“Um,” Ed says. “Wow.” 

“Mmmm?” Tjelvar says. Intelligently. 

“Uh. I’m… I’ve been thinking about doing that.”

“I have too.”

Ed’s cheeks are delightfully pink, easy to make out even in the dim light of the museum lobby, and his eyes are shining. “I’ve been thinking about it a _ lot _ .” Tjelvar reaches up and kisses him again, without the element of surprise this time he has time to make it more thorough, more studied, more… everything. When _ he _pulls back Ed is breathing a lot harder.

So is Tjelvar.

_ I’m so glad you don’t hate me, _ Tjelvar wants to say. _ I’m so sorry for what we went through, _ Tjelvar wants to say. _ I love you Eddie, thank you for not letting me go, _Tjelvar wants to say.

He gets as far as “I’m… that’s…” before Ed is kissing him again, backing him up against a wall (or an exhibit, or something, Tjelvar really doesn’t care at this point) and really it isn’t important to talk, right now, is it? Not when they could be doing something far more enjoyable.

Eventually they break apart and Tjelvar can’t help but let out a small, delighted laugh. Ed is grinning as though Apollo has granted him the most special of favours and Tjelvar can’t calm the mess of fluttering and warmth that's coursing through him. 

He doesn’t want to.

“I want to come with you,” Ed says then, and Tjelvar reaches up to tangle a hand in Ed’s hair, carding through it gently and reverently. 

“Thank you,” Tjelvar says.

“I mean. I want to for me, not for you. Well, for both of us, I guess? I just… I don’t think we should be apart from each other.”

“I very much agree with that,” Tjelvar says. Eddie leans his head forward to rest on Tjelvar’s and shuts his eyes, letting out a long sigh of relief. 

“That’s all good then,” he says.

#

They share a tent, on the road to Aten, and a few nights after leaving Cairo Tjelvar ducks into it to find Eddie studying the letter again. Tjelvar had thought it had been left on the floor of the museum. He is glad it wasn’t, considering its contents, but he doesn’t know why Ed would want to keep it, not really.

Ed looks up at him, and seems to read something of Tjelvar’s confusion on his face. “It would have won. If you hadn’t written it.”

“Mmmm?” Tjelvar asks, pulling off his boots. Ed sometimes comes at stories from places that Tjelvar doesn’t expect, and in his experience the only way to truly deal with that is to just let him talk it out. Some people find it irritating. Tjelvar is learning to love listening to the twists and turns Ed meanders along while he puzzles something out.

Tjelvar is learning to love a lot of things about Ed.

“When I left you in the temple of Aphrodite I was still hurting, and you were too. Because it had been trying to kill what we had… what was between us, for that whole journey, it was trying to stop us from hoping, stop us from caring if it got free. So it poisoned the most important thing it could get its hands on.”

“It tried to poison our feelings,” Tjelvar says.

Ed nods, leaning forward. “So if you hadn’t written the letter, even though its dead, the demon would have won.”

Tjelvar reaches out and takes Ed’s hands, setting the letter aside. “But I did write the letter.”

“Yes. And then I came to find you.”

“So it didn’t win.”

Ed is smiling now. “No. It didn’t win.” 

Tjelvar shifts forwards so he can kiss Ed - which leads to Ed pulling him back onto the bedroll, which leads to a very pleasant interlude that they both keep as quiet as possible, despite the fact that they pitch their tent a good ways away from the rest of the camp these days. Tjelvar had endured the smug smiles of certain of his students for the first two nights, but there were very few dangers on the road these days and Ed and Tjelvar deserve their privacy.

They’ve fought enough for it, for this, Tjelvar thinks afterwards, tucked safe and warm and content in the circle of Ed’s arms.

It didn’t win.


End file.
